


aftermath

by turtlesthataremutant



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Slight Suicidal Ideation, hurt was all wish’s story this is me creating closure for myself, the death does not happen in the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlesthataremutant/pseuds/turtlesthataremutant
Summary: April and Donnie have a little talk...This fic is based on this fun littlesainw with risestory—it’s got good art and good writing, so check it out!
Relationships: absolutely NOTHING - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	aftermath

“Donnie,” April says. “Why are you here? I mean, why now? It’s been a month.”

When he doesn’t respond, she asks, “Is it about Leo?”

Donnie tries not to let out bitter laugh. Leo is alive. Alive and healthy and happy, living with his brothers in a world that won’t go to all hell. That was the best outcome for Leo—Donnie’s not going to put him through everything they’ve endured because he’s selfish. Not when there was another solution. 

Getting Leo back was a dead idea the moment they realized he was truly gone. 

“No. It’s about Raph and Mikey. They’re dead. No fix. No ‘alternate versions’ of themselves that I can call my brothers. Because Leon’s brothers are people I used to know and my brothers were _different_. I can’t have them back.”

Donnie halts his pacing, not wanting to get too antsy and sinks into the the couch alongside April. 

“Maybe it is about Leo. There’s a different Donatello in a different time for our Leo, someone that I am not. But to me, all of my— _all_ of my brothers are gone. Do you know how terrifying it is to live for so long? To live only so that you can see yourself dead?” 

April searches his face like it’ll give her answers, eyebrows furrowed with a certain fear in her eyes. “Dead?”

“Sending Leo back was supposed to erase this entire timeline and replace it with something else, whatever would’ve happened with Leo. Hopefully something better. After he left, and I was alone, at that beach,” Donnie takes a shuddering breath, “I never wanted to not exist so _badly_ before. How am I supposed to live like this?”

He wipes at the tears gathering at his eyes. For all of Donnie’s talk about becoming a different person, under April’s gaze, he feels like a teenager again. Small and fragile. 

Her hand hovers over his shoulder, uncertain, and Donnie remembers a time where they never used to be so hesitant with each other, a time that Leo is living in, _creating_ with his very presence. A time where death was a thought far, far away. 

But April pulls him into a hug, and Donnie lets out a choked sob into her shoulder without meaning to. her arms wrap around his shell in a way he hasn’t felt in years, and Donnie doesn’t know how long they sit there, April muttering apologies as he silently cries in her warm embrace. 

“I don’t know how you’re supposed to deal with this,” she says, after pulling away, her voice shaky. “I don’t know how you deal with the death of your brothers.”

April grips Donnie’s shoulders. “But I do know that we have each other. You’re not alone, Dee, and I think—I think that it can work. That we can make it work.”

She lets go. “Because what other choice do we have?”

**Author's Note:**

> After i wrote the outline for this story, i lost a lot of the motivation i needed to properly write it. But this little dialogue survived, and despite it only being half of the actual thing, the rottmnt tag can always use some more fics. Hope you all enjoyed it!


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